Petersen backstops Hitmen to rare Dome exhibition win over Oil Kings

It was billed as the first-ever exhibition game for the Calgary Hitmen at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

Sunday afternoon’s game turned out to be a battle of back-up goaltenders vying for roster spots on the Hitmen and Edmonton Oil Kings.

Lasse Petersen stopped all 17 shots he faced to backstop the Hitmen to a 2-0 win over the Oil Kings in front of an announced crowd of 8,642 fans, although about half that many were in the stands to witness the pre-season game between the Western Hockey League rivals.

“I guess I had a little bit of butterflies in my stomach,” said Petersen, who admitted he’s never played in front that many fans before.

Hitmen coach Mark French was impressed with the composure that the 18-year-old Danish netminder showed in front of a decent-sized crowd for a pre-season game.

“He didn’t seem to be fazed by it,” French said. “I think he’s a guy who seems to handle those situations pretty well. I’d have to anticipate that the situation tonight would have been a pretty cool experience for him.”

As one of three goalies still on Calgary’s roster along with fellow rookie Kyle Dumba and veteran Brendan Burke, Petersen was happy to get the chance to show he has what it takes to play at the WHL level.

“It’s a nice confidence booster knowing that you can perform like that with a team like that in front of you too,” said Petersen, who moved to Swan River, Man., two years ago from his hometown of Herning, Denmark to play for the Swan Valley Stampeders of the MJHL.

At the other end of the ice, Patrick Dea started in net for the Oil Kings and surrendered just one goal on 12 shots, but it happened to be the game-winning tally by Hitmen forward Carsen Twarynski at 5:49 of the second period.

“I like Patty’s bounce back tonight,” said Edmonton coach Steve Hamilton, referring to one night earlier when Dea surrendered five goals on 14 shots during a 6-1 loss to the Hitmen at Servus Credit Union Place in St. Albert. “He had a bit of a rough one yesterday.”

Lucas Cullen added an insurance marker for the Hitmen at 9:21 of the third period when he drove hard to the net to swat a loose puck in the crease past 16-year-old goalie Liam Hughes.

After stopping seven of eight shots he faced in the third period of Saturday’s game, Hughes made 13 saves on Sunday in his second straight relief appearance.

“I thought he did a good job,” Hamilton said. “He was excited and probably a little nervous. We were overall pretty happy for him.”

Both Hughes and Dea are in a battle along with Carter Phair for Edmonton’s back-up goalie position behind Alec Dillon, who’s currently attending training camp with the L.A. Kings.

“There are some decisions to be made, but we certainly like our future in that position,” said Hamilton, who’s confident that Dillon has what it takes to emerge as Edmonton’s No. 1 goalie after deciding to forgo a scholarship at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to join the Oil Kings this season. “Certainly he’s going to be a big part of it.”

Once Burke gets back from his professional tryout with the Anaheim Ducks, French will also have some decisions to make regarding his goaltending situation heading into the season.

“It’s a position that I think there’s a lot of indecision around it,” said French, whose decision to start Dumba on Saturday paid off as the 17-year-old Calgarian turned aside 24 of 25 shots directed his way. “I thought Kyle played an excellent game last night and Lasse followed it up with a very good game today. I’m really happy. Both guys are playing well.”

Twarynski agreed with his coach’s assessment.

“Our goalies are for sure the story of these last couple games,” Twarynski said. “They’re both young guys and they’re both fighting for spots, but they both played with their ‘A’ games. You can really see that they’re starting to get comfortable out there, too.”

ICE CHIPS: With the win, the Hitmen improved their pre-season record to 5-0, while the Oil Kings fell to 2-2 … The Hitmen will finish up their exhibition schedule next weekend with games against the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Friday and the Kootenay Ice the next night at the Crowsnest Sports Complex in Coleman, Alta. … After Sunday’s afternoon affair in Calgary, the Oil Kings returned to Edmonton to prepare for their final pre-season game on Friday in Red Deer against the Rebels.

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